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Adeolu Adeyemo – Osogbo
Six days to the conduct of Presidential and National Assemby elections in Osun state, the exercise may end up in fiasco as two major political parties in the state, the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) and All Progressive Congress (APC) are accusing each other’s of importing qrmed thugs from neighbouring states to cause mayhem during the electoral period.
As the two political parties are locking horns and poise for war against themselves over the accusation unabated, the electioneering exercise could be characterized with acrimony and unrests of not checkmated on time.
The accusations and counter accusations seemed to have snowballed into real crisis between them as threats have accompanied their allegations.
For instance, Hon. Sunday Bisi, the former Chairman of the PDP in the state and Director-General, Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council, Osun State, accused APC leaders of harbouring thugs to disturb the exercise and unleash terror on innocent citizens of the state.
Hon. Bisi, who gave the APC leaders 72 hours ultimatum to remove all the hoodlums they brought into the state or face the consequences, said, failing to do so, “we will be left with no option but to hand over their locations to security agencies so as to throw them out of our state.”
Honourable Bisi specifically accused the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Osun East District, Hon. Ajibola Famurewa, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, of importing hoodlums from neighbouring states to cause mayhem and disrupt elections across Osun state.
The Director General, in a statement he personally signed on Sunday, said the plot to ignite unrest in Osun state to save the APC from humiliating loss at the polls also involve Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the party’s acting state chairman, Babatunde Ayeni, the APC House of Representatives Candidate for Ijesa South Federal Constituency, and Babatunde Festus Komolafe, the House of Assembly candidate of the APC for Atakunmosa East/West Constituency.
“We are disturbed to alert Nigerians and the whole world of the dangerous plot by APC leaders to scuttle elections in Osun state,” he noted in the state.
“As we countdown to the elections day on Saturday, we’re a witnessing an influx of armed thugs into the state by key APC leaders like the APC Senatorial candidate for Osun East District, Ajibola Famurewa, the Speaker of the Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, the APC Acting Chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the APC Rep candidate, Babatunde Ayeni, as well as the party’s assembly candidate for Atakunmosa East/West, Babatunde Festus Komolafe.
Hon. Bisi who observed that Hon. Famurewa was recently granted bail following the discovery of dangerous weapons in his possession by security agents, warned that the PDP will resist any attempt by the APC to plunge Osun into crisis.
“In the last few days, we noticed the movement of thugs into Osun state by the APC and fully aware of all the hotels in Osun East and other parts of the state where they were lodged,” the former Osun PDP Chairman asserted.
“Our credible findings detailed that the daredevil hands have been prepared to unleash violence, intimidate innocent people, and target our members for attacks in order to scare them away from participating in the polls. This quite explains the surge in violence on PDP members, especially in Osun East, where many have come under increasing scare for their lives.”
Hon. Bisi condemned the APC’s action towards the elections as desperation taken too far, noting that a party who had done well to earn the support of the people will not need to import criminals to cause mayhem.
He however called on APC leaders to withdraw the violent actors brought into the state for the purpose of the election with 72 hours, warning that failure to do so will see the PDP hand out their locations to security agencies in order to force them out of the state
“Our philosophy as a party is that power belongs to the people, and this is why we have been knocking on doors to persuade them to give us their mandates. If the APC think it can impose itself on the people through violence, then it is mistaken”.
However, in a separate statement,the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Patrick Kehinde Longe to arrest Hon. Sanya Omirin, the PDP House of Representatives’ candidate for Ijesa-South Federal Constituency and his agents of death because,he has penchant for coordinated violence.
The Party chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal in a statement by the party spokesperson, Chief Kola Olabisi,disclosed that it was Omirin’s thugs who have been attacking, maiming and killing the APC members and supporters from some of the towns and villages in the Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area of the state which has led to the fleeing of the area by a sizeable number of the APC members from the settlements.
The APC Chairman said that, it was nauseating and strange to hear that Omirin coordinated the killing of the APC member because his campaign billboard and his father’s house were attacked by some unknown people.
Lawal wondered who conferred the authority to place a death sentence on a fellow human being for allegedly destroying his father’s house and campaign billoard, assuming without conceding?
He urged the police to, without further delay, swing into action and effect the arrest of Omirin and his killer gang in order to show the neutrality of the police in the matter.
Lawal asked Omirin, how he would have felt if the murdered APC member were to either be his son or cousin? Or is Omirin’s political ambition worth the blood of another human being?
In the APC chairman’s words: “Based on the Omirin’s threats and outbursts in the past, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to submit that Omirin is a dangerous human being who is not fit to be living in the midst of the people.
“The video recording of Omirin’s past threats in a meeting which has gone viral where he threatened to use maximum force against any member of the APC that might come into his way during the last governorship election is an attestation to the fact that the PDP candidate is a violent human being.
“Omirin reminded the PDP meeting that he would not hesitate to use bombs, explosives and other dangerous weapons on the APC members to ensure victory for the PDP in any election.
“The PDP House of Representatives candidate for Ijesa-South Federal Constituency boasted that he would not hesitate to use maximum force on anyone during the elections”, the state APC chairman restated.
Lawal recalled how Omirin warned in the video that he was very ruthless whenever it comes to election matters and that it’s on record that he was using violence for other members of his party’s elections in the past.
The Osun State APC chairman observed that Omirin who boasted to replicate same violent method to win elections for other people vowed to go to any length when the election has to do with his own aspiration.
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